About this document
Sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons represent a significant proportion of Australia’s contaminated land, and proper characterisation of these sites is therefore a major concern. Poorly planned and executed site characterisation is likely to result in additional expense, both during the investigation and subsequent remediation, and inadequate or misleading data may also result in an increased risk to human health and the environment.
Sites impacted by petroleum hydrocarbons represent a significant proportion of Australia’s contaminated land, and proper characterisation of these sites is therefore a major concern. Poorly planned and executed site characterisation is likely to result in additional expense, both during the investigation and subsequent remediation, and inadequate or misleading data may also result in an increased risk to human health and the environment. A number of guidance documents related to contaminated site characterisation currently exist in Australia; however, these are typically regional, outdated or do not provide information specific to characterising petroleum hydrocarbon impacts.
CRC CARE, in consultation with industry, consultants and regulators, recognised the need to prepare national guidelines for the characterisation of petroleum hydrocarbon impacted sites, to unify current guidance and provide support for innovative technologies and approaches. These guidelines have therefore been prepared under CRC CARE’s National Contaminated Sites Demonstration Program. Preparation of the guidelines forms part of a larger Site Characterisation Project scope, which has also included the formation of a Petroleum Projects Project Advisory Group (PAG) to provide direction and feedback from industry, consultants, researchers and state regulators. A review of relevant existing Australian and international guidance, protocols and techniques has also been previously completed (Davis et al. 2006) and taken into consideration during the development of these guidelines.